Hello Bandsters -

Four rules of healthy eating:

1. Avoid white flour and white sugar products.

2. Avoid any processed food.

3. Avoid any food advertised on TV

4. Avoid Fast Food chains.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr Kelly M. Fitzpatrick

Without a doubt this is the stranged topic I have ever read. It would have been just a complete waste of time, except I did get a couple of chuckles along the way.

So, here's my two cents:

I agree that these rules aren't "absolute", per say. They aren't the absolute cardinal laws of healthy eating. If you want to have a cheeseburger or a vanilla cone every now and again from McD's is it going to kill your attempt at weight loss? ABSOLUTELY not. Every once in a while, you should indulge yourself.

I, personally, am a fan of whole foods and a huge fan of the culinary world, so I'm not against the idea of a pure whole foods diet. I also like to believe of the calories in/calories out concept, but a lot of people don't understand that there's MUCH more to it than that. In theory, you could eat 1200 calories of pure sugar per day and still lose weight, HOWEVER, the lack of amino acid intake is a huge problem, not to mention the lack of Vitamin intake that help our enzymes work. Alternatively, though, if you were to eat 1200 calories of pure Protein and nothing else for a few weeks, it would kill you. No bull. Ask a survivalist. haha. The take-home here is that you need a diet that covers the bases: veggie/fruit, protein, carbohydrate, and fat. How you do it doesn't really matter all that much, keeping portion size in mind.

I think the gist of what I'm trying to say is that if you can follow the "four golden rules", good for you, but if you're like the VAST majority of us, we take things in stride and adapt it to our own way of eating that works for us. My only suggestion of a strongly suggested rule would be for EVERYONE to take a multi-vitamin every day. The lack of Calcium and Vitamin D in our diets are being connected to cancers and other major somatic problems. Plus, you know you can trust a suggestion from an allopathic(MD) background. haha.

Just a quick question for some of you.. I was badly addicted to starbucks Coffee and have gone from a gazillion calorie drink to their Tazo Iced Green Tea Latte. I saw "No Latte's" on this post and was just wondering, should I not be drinking my new Latte? And if not, is there anything at starbucks I can drink that is "good" for me? I need a morning boost and can't stand the taste of dark coffee with just cream and sugar....

Just a quick question for some of you.. I was badly addicted to starbucks coffee and have gone from a gazillion calorie drink to their Tazo Iced Green Tea Latte. I saw "No Latte's" on this post and was just wondering, should I not be drinking my new Latte? And if not, is there anything at starbucks I can drink that is "good" for me? I need a morning boost and can't stand the taste of dark coffee with just cream and sugar....

I'd hate to tell you that you absolutely can't drink a latte if it wasn't causing you any problems. Do you find that it's keeping you from losing weight? Or, even if you can fit it into your daily caloric budget (as you technically can with most things in small enough portions), is it taking up room in your daily diet that would be otherwise occupied by more Protein or veggies? In other words, are you getting all of your nutrients and staying within your caloric budget WHILE drinking this latte in the morning? If I were in your situation and I could fit it into my diet healthily, I'd keep drinking the latte if I really enjoyed it over the alternatives.

There's common counsel against drinking your calories and it's good. People can easily have several very high-calorie drinks without being conscious of how much they've consumed or feeling full. Also, popular drinks often have a low nutritional/protein status relative to some solid foods in the same calorie range. However, I see the "don't drink your calories" as a general rule and I consciously break the rule twice a day, while observing it for most of my meals. I drink a high-quality and relatively low-calorie Protein shake two times a day. I rarely drink juice or any other drink, unless it is had as a treat. Especially as a vegetarian, the protein shake has made my diet much easier and helps me reach about 100g of protein a day, while staying below 1100 calories. There's no reason (that I'm aware of) that I should take this Protein Drink out of my diet. I'm losing weight more quickly now than I was before I started the protein drink (this is likely in thanks partly to the drink and partly to my stricter diet).

In my opinion, you should analyze the drink, yourself, in terms of its nutritional status and find out how many calories you are consuming in a day while the drink is in your diet. Also, you should examine your diet for various nutrient targets that you need to be reaching (e.g. potassium, Vitamin A); this will tell you if you need to take the drink out to make room for other foods that are high in particular nutrients. Good luck deciding!

EDIT: I should say that you can find out if you're reaching your nutrient targets with a food tracker. myfitnesspal.com is the one I use to keep track of calories, fats, protein, and various nutrients.

I'd hate to tell you that you absolutely can't drink a latte if it wasn't causing you any problems. Do you find that it's keeping you from losing weight? Or, even if you can fit it into your daily caloric budget (as you technically can with most things in small enough portions), is it taking up room in your daily diet that would be otherwise occupied by more protein or veggies? In other words, are you getting all of your nutrients and staying within your caloric budget WHILE drinking this latte in the morning? If I were in your situation and I could fit it into my diet healthily, I'd keep drinking the latte if I really enjoyed it over the alternatives. There's common counsel against drinking your calories and it's good. People can easily have several very high-calorie drinks without being conscious of how much they've consumed or feeling full. Also, popular drinks often have a low nutritional/protein status relative to some solid foods in the same calorie range. However, I see the "don't drink your calories" as a general rule and I consciously break the rule twice a day, while observing it for most of my meals. I drink a high-quality and relatively low-calorie protein shake two times a day. I rarely drink juice or any other drink, unless it is had as a treat. Especially as a vegetarian, the protein shake has made my diet much easier and helps me reach about 100g of protein a day, while staying below 1100 calories. There's no reason (that I'm aware of) that I should take this protein drink out of my diet. I'm losing weight more quickly now than I was before I started the protein drink (this is likely in thanks partly to the drink and partly to my stricter diet). In my opinion, you should analyze the drink, yourself, in terms of its nutritional status and find out how many calories you are consuming in a day while the drink is in your diet. Also, you should examine your diet for various nutrient targets that you need to be reaching (e.g. potassium, Vitamin A); this will tell you if you need to take the drink out to make room for other foods that are high in particular nutrients. Good luck deciding! EDIT: I should say that you can find out if you're reaching your nutrient targets with a food tracker. myfitnesspal.com is the one I use to keep track of calories, fats, protein, and various nutrients.

Thanks Irene.. The latte fits into my calorie allowance a day. I get a fat free Tazo Iced Green Tea Latte and it's the only "liquid calorie" I consume (other than my protein shakes of course). I don't have it EVERYDAY which is a good thing, but it does come with 220cal, 10g of protein, 0g of fat, BUT it has 43g of sugar and that's the one thing that kind of worries me. I'm not sure how many grams of sugar I'm suppossed to be taking in daily? Other than that, I take a mutli-vitamin, calcium and fiber supplements daily.

I've just finished reading this entire post and I have found it enjoyable, for some reason.

First, the "rules" stated by the OP are good, sound, advice. Just add daily exercise, and watch your daily calorie intake and the world will be a perfect place. But I'm not perfect. I needed surgical intervention. I've had this mantra on my fridge for 35 years. That's what made me smile. "How do you become a millionaire? First, go out and get a million dollars, then you take that and............" (Steve Martin)

What I have learned with my band is this: There are certain foods I will never be able to eat again. No more breads or McD's burgers, etc. I've tried! So long to the belly Buster Subs and Philly cheese Stake sandwiches, may you RIP.

I have also found that the quantity of what I can eat is now very limited. I still get Chinese take-out, just that I no longer eat enough to feed 4! I usually throw out most of it. (Hint: I don't save left overs...will come back to them later if available)

So, if what I eat, and how much I can eat has been limited, that will now bring me back to what the OP listed. And that is "Make the most of what you CAN eat!"

I still go to fine restaurants with my family and friends. There are items on the menu I know will not go down easily, if at all. I focus on the entree that looks good, and has a high Protein value, fish..chicken..steak..etc. Skip the appetizers, that will only fill me up. I will steal a taste of my wifes if need be, but only a taste. When my food arrives, I will eat the protein first. Then the scalloped potatoes, etc., but I don't have room for those so again it's only a taste.

Dessert: I'll have coffee and ice cream. Compare this to what I would have eaten 6 months ago...I am Way out ahead!! I would have had 4 courses, cleaned my plate, and ate what my Wife didn't.

I went to a all day auto racing event yesterday. They had all the usual carnival type foods there. chicken fingers, fries, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, etc, etc. I wasted a lot of money buying different things, only to throw them away after one swallow. So, in 8 hrs in the hot sun, know what I ate? Ice cream, and 1 or 2 lite beers. Not very nutritional. But that's ALL i ate, plus a few bottled waters and I must have walked 20 miles. Six months ago, I could not begin to tell you what I would have eaten at a event like this!!

I'm not saying this is the logic people should follow. I'm saying this is how it is currently working for me. I have dropped 45lbs in the last 6 months, and I have 35lbs to reach my goal.

Thanks Irene.. The latte fits into my calorie allowance a day. I get a fat free Tazo Iced Green Tea Latte and it's the only "liquid calorie" I consume (other than my Protein shakes of course). I don't have it EVERYDAY which is a good thing, but it does come with 220cal, 10g of protein, 0g of fat, BUT it has 43g of sugar and that's the one thing that kind of worries me. I'm not sure how many grams of sugar I'm suppossed to be taking in daily? Other than that, I take a mutli-Vitamin, calcium and fiber supplements daily.

Sugar is a carb, so if you're trying to stay in a low carb range, you might want to ask them to make your latte with Splenda, which will cut down the calories dramatically. If you try to stick to 100g of carbs a day, well, your latte is half of that. If you're trying to stick to 50g... you're in trouble

One teaspoon is about 5 grams of sugar- so your drink has 8+ teaspoons of sugar!